Start with Air
Title: Start with Air
Rating: G
Characters: Kuruk, Anil (Air Nomad OC)
Word Count: 418, complete
Summary: Kuruk is apprehensive about living with the Air Nomads for training.
Notes: Written for avatar_500, prompt 'monk.' Revised version.
Start with Air
Kuruk was sitting on a sky bison with three Air Nomads, flying to the Southern Air Temple. Two of the monks were old men, with white mustaches and bushy eyebrows, and they talked in low voices. The third was a teenager, and held the reigns. All three wore bright orange robes and were tattooed with blue arrows. They seemed foreign and unfathomable.
Although he would not admit it to anyone else, he was nervous. The idea of living up in the mountains with a bunch of monks for several years was not appealing. He had been nervous about moving to the Earth Kingdom for training because he was leaving home, but earth benders did not have ways that were so very different from the Water Tribe. The Air Nomads did. Men and women lived at different temples. Air benders didn't eat meat. Monks devoted themselves to study and meditation--in other words, they never had any fun. He foresaw being lonely, bored and hungry during his training. But he had to learn all four elements, and now was the time to start with air.
The young monk, Anil, said, "Avatar Kuruk, we're almost there."
Waking up from his daydreams, he saw the Southern Air Temple. For a moment, he thought it was something from the spirit world, shrouded in mist above snow dusted slopes. Air benders soared on gliders around the temple spires. It was the perfect setting to study air bending.
Anil said, "Flying on gliders is a lot of fun, Avatar. I think you'll like it--if you're not scared."
Kuruk huffed, "Even if I weren't the Avatar, I wouldn't be scared. Riding the wind can't be more dangerous than riding the waves."
"If you make a mistake, you can fall and die."
"If you make a mistake surfing, you can drown. And there are all kinds of dangerous creatures in the ocean. Python sharks, lightning eels, jelly fish."
Anil chuckled. "Jelly fish?"
"A lot of jelly fish are poisonous."
Anil seemed like a good guy. The two of them had chatted off and on during the journey. If there were other monks like him around, Kuruk might make some friends. He might be able to sneak down to the ocean sometimes and catch fish, and he might be able to visit the Southern Water Tribe, which wasn't far. If it was his duty as the Avatar to live as a monk so he could learn air bending, he might as well make it more pleasant for himself.
--end
Rating: G
Characters: Kuruk, Anil (Air Nomad OC)
Word Count: 418, complete
Summary: Kuruk is apprehensive about living with the Air Nomads for training.
Notes: Written for avatar_500, prompt 'monk.' Revised version.
Start with Air
Kuruk was sitting on a sky bison with three Air Nomads, flying to the Southern Air Temple. Two of the monks were old men, with white mustaches and bushy eyebrows, and they talked in low voices. The third was a teenager, and held the reigns. All three wore bright orange robes and were tattooed with blue arrows. They seemed foreign and unfathomable.
Although he would not admit it to anyone else, he was nervous. The idea of living up in the mountains with a bunch of monks for several years was not appealing. He had been nervous about moving to the Earth Kingdom for training because he was leaving home, but earth benders did not have ways that were so very different from the Water Tribe. The Air Nomads did. Men and women lived at different temples. Air benders didn't eat meat. Monks devoted themselves to study and meditation--in other words, they never had any fun. He foresaw being lonely, bored and hungry during his training. But he had to learn all four elements, and now was the time to start with air.
The young monk, Anil, said, "Avatar Kuruk, we're almost there."
Waking up from his daydreams, he saw the Southern Air Temple. For a moment, he thought it was something from the spirit world, shrouded in mist above snow dusted slopes. Air benders soared on gliders around the temple spires. It was the perfect setting to study air bending.
Anil said, "Flying on gliders is a lot of fun, Avatar. I think you'll like it--if you're not scared."
Kuruk huffed, "Even if I weren't the Avatar, I wouldn't be scared. Riding the wind can't be more dangerous than riding the waves."
"If you make a mistake, you can fall and die."
"If you make a mistake surfing, you can drown. And there are all kinds of dangerous creatures in the ocean. Python sharks, lightning eels, jelly fish."
Anil chuckled. "Jelly fish?"
"A lot of jelly fish are poisonous."
Anil seemed like a good guy. The two of them had chatted off and on during the journey. If there were other monks like him around, Kuruk might make some friends. He might be able to sneak down to the ocean sometimes and catch fish, and he might be able to visit the Southern Water Tribe, which wasn't far. If it was his duty as the Avatar to live as a monk so he could learn air bending, he might as well make it more pleasant for himself.
--end